Traffic moved along Interstate 25 Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 2, 2012 in Denver. The highway will be shut down between Santa Fe and Hampden for the presidential debate at the University of Denver Wednesday.

Traffic engineers have mapped detours and timed traffic lights, but commuters will need to plot their own alternate routes to survive the crosstown drive Wednesday afternoon.

Because of the presidential debate at the University of Denver on Wednesday night, Interstate 25 will be closed in both directions from 5 to 10 p.m. between Santa Fe Drive and Hampden Avenue, and closed to large-vehicle traffic between Interstates 76 and 225 from 3 to 11 p.m.

The result will be more than double normal traffic on the Santa Fe-Hampden detour route around the southwest side of town and heavy truck traffic on the northeast highways.

“There will be pros and cons in taking Colorado (Boulevard),” Crane said. “It will be busier, but there are a lot of different routes that spur off of it.”

University Boulevard — another natural cut-through — will be closed near DU from Evans Avenue to Louisiana Avenue from 5 to 10 p.m.

Traffic planners suggest drivers stick to the big roads and stay off of residential streets as those are expected to crowd, too.

As for east-west travelers, Crane suggested Interstate 225, Alameda Avenue, Sixth Avenue and Hampden. For those not needing to stop in the heart of the city, C-470 and the E-470 toll road are good alternatives.

Because about 50,000 vehicles — up from the normal 20,000 — are expected to pour through the Santa Fe-Hampden detour, the traffic light green-cycle has been extended, Denver Public Works spokeswoman Emily Williams said.

Extra traffic cops will be on duty to help sort the snarls and respond to accidents, Denver police spokeswoman Raquel Lopez said.

Denver has been through this drill before. When Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination at Mile High stadium in 2008, I-25 traffic was stopped between Interstate 70 and Sixth Avenue for 4½ hours.

But because of good driver planning, the jams didn’t materialize.

RTD FasTracks spokesman Kevin Flynn — a former reporter who covered the traffic logistics of the Democratic National Convention for the Rocky Mountain News — offered bus and light rail as alternatives to navigating in a personal vehicle. The whole system will be in operation, with some delays near DU.

But if you must go by car, Flynn said, “I’ve found Sheridan to be a great hidden jewel.”

Ryan Parker was a reporter for The Denver Post from 2011 until May 2014. A Colorado native, Parker started his career at smaller weeklies and worked for YourHub before becoming a breaking news reporter for The Post.

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